William Faulkner’s short novel, The Bear Essay -- Bear

William Faulkner’s short novel, The Bear "The Bear" is a short novel in an anthology that begins in Yoknapatwpha County sometime after the Civil War. The story deals with loyalty, honor, truth, bravery, courage, fear, nature, history and choices. Cleanth Brooks best described this story by saying, "Faulkner's villains do not respect nature and their fear of it has nothing in common with the fear of the Lord or with awe in the presence of the divine." (Brooks 149) In the story, we find a bear that has learned to outwit and survive hunters for years. It wasn't until they took a beast of the wild and tamed it before they could even come close to the bear. They took a beast of nature to kill a beast of nature for their own personal pleasure, for sport...a conversation piece. When looking into the history aspect of the story, think of human actions and how People make radical decisions that may affect the rest of their lives, or even the lives of others, not even giving a second thought to the consequences. This book deals with a radical decision made by one man that changed the lives of many. The author of this story, William Faulkner, was a white southern male born "September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. He died July 6, 1962." (Compton's CD) Faulkner had a way with Christianity, but more with the nature of man. He believed that man was nature. We can see how this affects the story with the statement "It was of the men, not white nor black nor red but men, hunters, with the will and hardihood to endure and the humility and skill to survive..."(Faulkner 327) The story begins with Ike and C who are going on a hunting trip to try to catch Old Ben, t... ...ficient utilization of it, or when he ceases to love it and to carry on his contention with it in terms of some sort of code, then he not only risks destroying nature but risks bestializing his own nature. (270) This novel is a wonderful book to read for those who like nature and the wilderness. It is through nature that one can achieve their highest level of love for the world. Although it may be hard to get through a few of the chapters, once you truly understand the meaning of the book, it will stick in your heart forever. Work Cited Brooks, Cleanth. "On the prejudices, predilections, and firm beliefs of William Faulkner." [Baton Rouge] LSU Press, 1987. "Six great modern short novels." New York Dell, 1982. 328 Brooks, Cleanth. William Faulkner The Yoknapatawpha County. London Yale University Press, 1974